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Episode 3. The Princess’ Doctor Gets Beaten Up (3)

***

The academy was further away than I thought.

The princess was playing with her hair. Overall, she had a doll-like impression. She had skin as white as porcelain, and her expression was generally emotionless, perhaps due to her long illness.

“I still don’t understand. Why do you want to go to the Academy? The real reason, not the nonsense you were telling me yesterday.”

What did you say yesterday?

“I think the medical science of this world is backwards. I think there is room for great improvement if a few people put in just a little effort.”

“That’s why?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t seem like a very dedicated person. What changed your mind?”

“No, Your Highness. I’m sorry, but is that something that someone who would have passed away a long time ago would say?”

“Teacher, you breathe insults to the royal family.”

“Is it an insult to brag about saving someone?”

“… … .”

Princess Mint let out a hollow laugh.

“Speak quietly. The servants will hear.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There are few subjects who are as outspoken as the teacher, saying there is no tomorrow. If the teacher was truly someone who only pursued money or power, he would not have left the palace on his own.”

“I think so too.”

“How shameless… … . The teacher chose the wrong profession. A sharp tongue is much more threatening than medicine. It seems like being a court jester would have been perfect for him.”

“I see. I should learn an instrument before returning to the palace. What would you like?”

“You crazy guy.”

Mint’s mood seemed to have improved a little.

****

The carriage ride was longer than I thought. It took all day to get to the academy. The zodiacal landscape spread out outside the window.

“Princess. Have you ever been outside the capital?”

“Asterix. When you arrive at the Academy, I will give you the Parrot of the South.”

“Why?”

“It seems like the teacher likes meaningless conversations. I hope you catch the parrot and say whatever you want. Don’t bother the people around you.”

“Yeah, what.”

If I stay quiet, it’s obvious that she’ll get annoyed and get bored. Even though she’s a princess, she’s still just a plant in a greenhouse. It’s even worse because she was sick.

“Tell me a funny story.”

“I don’t know anything except medicine.”

I looked out the carriage window.

“Looking at the city reminds me of something. As Pirhoh said, medicine is politics.”

“Who is Pirhoh? Is he your senior?”

Friedrich Wilhelm University, class of 1839.

Different universities, but two centuries older.

“Let’s say that’s the case. Anyway, Senior Pirhoh was sent to a certain area to investigate an epidemic. And then he realized.”

“What?”

“Senior Pirhoh put aside his research on infectious diseases and submitted a 300-page report to the government detailing the inequalities and harsh conditions the people of this region were experiencing.”

The princess tilted her head.

“What’s the content?”

“These were revolutionary things at the time. The introduction of democracy in areas where the plague was prevalent, the expansion of roads, tax cuts, the establishment of orphanages and workhouses. Pirho believed that medicine could change society, and that society could-”

“Pirhoraetda. You said you were a healer, but you don’t do the treatments I ask you to do. You’re an incompetent and presumptuous bastard.”

Princess Mint waved her hand.

Pirhó joined the anti-Prussian revolution eight days after submitting the report in question. As we talked, I realized that if I wanted to have a small talk with the princess, I had chosen the worst topic.

I’m sorry, Senior Pirhoh.

“ Yes, there is no such dog.

“… … .What a refreshing story.”

“Anyway, most diseases are caused by social influences. Malnutrition, polluted environment, lack of clean drinking water, overwork. And these are not problems that healers can solve.”

“That’s grandiose. A person who used to play card games for six hours a day until yesterday is talking a lot.”

I kept my mouth shut.

****

The carriage stopped a few minutes later.

“It’s near the academy. I’m sorry for making my superiors bored, but I’m sorry for saying such trivial things.”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“Escort.”

“Yes.”

It seems that high-ranking nobles do not walk alone at official functions. It seems that they must have some kind of attendant, whether it be a maid, an escort knight, or something else.

By the way, this is a different concept from servants. Servants are usually commoners. Although there is a difference in rank, maids and escort knights are considered nobles.

To be honest, it’s so pathetic. When I was an undergraduate, I ate alone every other day. I thought they were weak.

The royal family sent four carriages today.

There was one carriage, one escort carriage, and one carriage with servants. Princess Mint got out of the carriage while being escorted by me.

Onlookers had already gathered.

“How far should we go together?”

“Well, just moderately.”

The gaze was more harsh than I expected.

I think I know what they’re thinking without even having to listen to them. What’s that kid doing, escorting the princess to the academy?

****

Mint brought it to me.

I went to the professor’s lab I was assigned to. There was a bookshelf, a desk, and some equipment left behind by the previous lab owner.

It’s been a while since I’ve looked at the lab.

Although it was a bit old-fashioned, there were many things worth looking at. Beakers, flasks, scales, tweezers, tablespoons, etc. It was a shame that there were no microscopes or micropipettes. No, you could probably make a microscope by combining magnifying glasses.

There were many things to try.

If you have a microscope, it’s worth doing a Gram stain. If you can identify the bacteria, the range of treatments you can do increases dramatically.

Okay, what should I do first?

The first thing to do is to understand the level of the academy students and the academic community.

Then, I think I will be able to make a plan of what to research and what to pursue first. There is a lot to do.

That’s right. Come to think of it, there’s something that takes priority over everything I’ve mentioned before. If you want to do hospital work, you have to hire residents, and if you want to do research, you have to hire graduate students.

Where do graduate students grow up?

Academy of Healing Faculty.

It is said to be a place where the best intellectuals of the empire gather. However, it is difficult to overcome the atmosphere of the times and the limitations of collective knowledge.

I have to start classes in about a month. I have a lot to teach these medieval-level savages, except for magic.

Of course, there are also practical considerations: how far can we persuade the academic community, and how far can we bring modern science here?

If I were to teach a class to the healers at the academy, what would be a good thing to teach first? I thought about it for a while. That was the first thing I taught to medical students who were starting their first hospital internship.

Washing hands.

Well, it’s not like we can just teach them how to wash their hands. If we add a little more, we can also teach them how to make disinfectant or grow culture media.

Plan one. Wash your hands.

Soap is not hard to obtain. If it is a hospital, there are probably running water pipes. The method of washing hands itself is not difficult.

Washing surgical hands takes more than a few minutes, including the time spent washing hands with disinfectant, but even so, this should be possible without much difficulty.

Second plan. Culture medium.

It’s not hard to make the nutrient portion of the culture medium. You can use things like soybean powder, sugar, and milk. Is milk not okay because of the lactic acid bacteria?

I’ll have to think about that some more.

The problem is agar. If you don’t know what agar is, it’s a kind of ink used to make culture media.

Usually made with seaweed.

But I have never seen seaweed in this world. I don’t know if there is anything similar. I have never eaten seaweed either…

Could you substitute it with starch?

You can make a culture medium like tofu with soybean powder and potato starch. We have petri dishes in this lab, too.

Plan three. Disinfectant.

I think alcohol could be used as a disinfectant. You could distill alcohol like vodka or high-alcohol liquor and use it as a disinfectant.

I doubt the unit price is correct.

Wouldn’t it be a bit odd to distill high-quality liquor and use it as a disinfectant? It’s a disinfectant that needs to be used every day, so if the price is unaffordable, it’s a bit odd.

Considering the alcohol content of alcohols like vodka, it would not be lacking as a disinfectant. I have no idea how much vodka costs.

****

Istina, an apprentice healer at the Academy, sighed. This life was definitely ruined.

You should have just kept quiet and endured it.

If I had just endured a little bit of the bullying and chores I was given because I was from a commoner background, I could have quietly completed graduate school and my apprenticeship.

What’s already happened can’t be undone. You can’t go back and apologize, and even if you did, nothing would change.

Running away from the academy… … is also impossible. I still have to get my degree, and if I run away like this, I’ll have nowhere to go.

There is only one solution.

I heard that there is a new professor coming in this time. Wouldn’t it be okay to go under the new professor?

Maybe the territoriality will be a little less, and maybe it will be different from the other idiots at the academy.

Above all, since he is a newly appointed professor, he will need graduate students, so he will be able to complete Istina’s graduate school life somehow.

Please just let me graduate, Professor.

First, you have to hit the player.

To go to the newly appointed professor’s lab faster than anyone else and become the first graduate student. That was the plan Istina had made.